Aligning with What You Truly Want with Leena Lemos

Jillian: So, hi, Leena, 

Leena: how are you today? Hi, I'm good. How are 

Jillian: you? I am great. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. So if you wanna start with telling us, like, who are you and what do you do in this world? oh God, that's a little question. That's a big question. 

Leena: Yeah. Start off with the hard ones. Okay. My name's Leena Lamos.

As you already said, I'm the founder of house of enlightened hood. It is a community own spiritual organization where I'm trying to get the gist of saying that cause we're going through a transition period. so I'll back up and kind of explain what that means. And then I also have my own podcast house of enlightened hood.

I have written a book to your Luna wild, which is over there, which is two and a half years of letters worth to my daughter. Just documenting my journey, my spiritual awakening, motherhood, all of the things. And then I also am the co-founder of a women's circle organization called sisters of serious. So we do healings, meditations, energy, activations, those types of things.

And so that's the gist of it right now. So to go back to house Enlighted, I started building when I was six months pregnant. I was really frustrated with the way that our society treats pregnant women. And , it just lit this fire within me because I felt like motherhood ripped my soul wide open and no one was willing to acknowledge it.

And so after I, when I let me backtrack, when I was six months pregnant, I got this download from the universe and I was just sitting outta my bed and this word came to me in light hood. And I thought it just perfectly described everything I was going through at the time, this questioning this fire, this healing, this.

Looking at the really deep dark parts of my soul. And so I held onto this word, but had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I also knew that I was at a crossroads. I had been working in media and marketing for 10 years. I was really, I loved my job so much, but at the time the management had shifted and I was almost demoted in my position cuz they knew I was going on maternity leave and all of these things.

And so I felt like I was at a crossroads and I just knew that I had to follow this word and light into it. And I didn't know where it was gonna lead. And then, you know, as I think, as we all do stepping into this space and wanting to serve, I mean, this might be a little kind of five years ago, but I feel like the first.

Instinct is, do I come become a blogger? Do I, you know, do I start my own blog? Do I try to make it on Instagram? What am I supposed to do? So when I was four months, four weeks postpartum, I just realized that this is bigger than me because yes, this is my experience, but I also wanna feel really validated that I'm not alone in this experience of.

Spiritual awakenings and motherhood. So I decided that enlightened hood would just be a conversation. And so I started a podcast and a little website asking mothers around the world, what happened to them in motherhood and did it awaken them spiritually and what that looked like for them. And that's when the floodgates opened.

So within six months, it was my podcast and the website had been listened to and viewed in over a hundred countries. And it just became this avalanche snowball effect. And it took three years up until now to really have listened, tried, and failed and continued to evolve to get it to where it is now. And.

I came into this space because I stepped into it as with a motherhood perspective with this cohort of women. And I watched how our current spiritual and wellness industry just wasn't serving anyone. And it just kept so many women thinking that the power and their capability and the answers were still outside of themselves and also watching so many women who just wanna serve and do good things in the world, struggle with the current blueprint of the way that we're told that we have to start an online business or be a spiritual entrepreneur.

So with all of those things combined, I just realized that there had to. Better way and a different way to do things. So the way the house of enlightened to is transitioning is we're becoming a community owned organization. So think of a cooperative, almost where everyone can put their resources, their time, their energy together in order to be the new space for spirituality to have this safe place, to ask questions about your soul, to find the people.

Your soul family, the mentors, the guides in a place that is much more full of integrity and a lot less about Instagram views and, you know, blue check marks and, and all these things and bringing it back home to us. So we can reclaim that ownership in our own experience. So I think that's a, that's a spark notes version 

Jillian: That is beautiful.

I love that you give a community to women. I feel like no matter what we do as mothers you're criticized for. Cause yeah, no matter what decision you make. 

Leena: Oh my God. Don't I could go down that rabbit hole for so long and it just comes to the point where you're like, you have to do what's best for your child, you know, you know, your child the best.

I have three 

Jillian: kids and I do not parent a single one of 'em the same way because they're different people, you know? Yeah. What works for one does not work for the other 

Leena: yeah. And it's been, I. I really built it for a place where I could feel validated and seen enough to just be all that I am and also have the space to say, I don't wanna do it the way that everyone else has done it and feel supported in that because I didn't necessarily have that in my real human life.

So to have that connection and that validation. Even if it is virtual has just has changed my life. 

Jillian: Yeah. And it's the same with our businesses too. You know what worked for one yeah. Is not gonna work for you, especially exactly. Doesn't feel in alignment. You know, if you're doing something that doesn't feel aligned to you, it's not going to work.

Leena: Yes. But we're kind of. Sold these blueprints mm-hmm of this is what you need to do to be successful. And we have all these people trying so hard and then not succeeding, and it just breaks my heart, especially the ones who just wanna help and serve. And so I think together we're really trying to reimagine a new way that allows us all to be successful in our true gifts, without feeling like.

We have to act out of alignment or integrity in order to get more views or make more sales or things like that. 

Jillian: Yes mm-hmm exactly. Yeah, not everything's right for you. Like I'm a podcast manager, but I'm not gonna push a podcast on somebody who I know it's not right for those not the right time for them.

Mm-hmm , you know, cause that's not gonna serve me or them. Yep. So how did your podcast come to be? I know you had the podcast, the house of enlightenhood.

Leena: So it actually started as just enlightened into. And it's really interesting because it has really just been an audio diary of this journey and interviewing people and asking questions. And so the first season started out as enlightened hood and it was very much just interviewing mothers and talking about spirituality.

I intertwined with different topics, but mostly about the motherhood experience. Then I started to branch out a little bit in season two and it became talking to not just mothers, but more about still that really grounded spirituality. And then. In, when was it the fall of 2020? I had been working towards building out enlightened into to basically be this spiritual hub for moms.

But it, I, you know, we were also what, four months, five months into the pandemic. And I had been doing really, really deep shadow work to the point where just serving moms didn't feel an alignment with me anymore. And I really wanted to help everyone because what about the women who are going to become mothers?

What about. More than women. What about us healing as a human collective? And it was kind of serendipitous at the time that my business partner left, cuz she had personal stuff going on, which kind of beautifully burned everything to the ground and so I was, I went to the beach just. Sitting asking, do I give up, what am I supposed to do?

Is this a side that this is just not working? And I just saw this really beautiful image of people from all walks of life coming together. And I just heard build the village. And so that's when I decided to shift it and transition it to being house of enlight into a place where all of us can come and have that safe space to explore, heal, ask questions, find community.

And so then the podcast shifted with that and became house of enlightened hood. And I just finished season four, 101 episodes. And so season four was actually the first, first season I started interviewing men too, which was really great to have on the podcast, but still just these topics that. We need to know in order to have that power and that ownership over our journey and to know that we're not alone and nothing's too weird.

that's what I'm all about. So finding that spirituality, but in an accessible way that doesn't feel like we're going down all these jargon rabbit holes, where it feels inaccessible to people. Cuz I think. There is a little bit of, I say this with so much love and compassion, but pretentiousness in the spiritual industry, like we're better than you because we wear all these different clothes and use these words that you don't understand and all these things.

And I think that just keeps the separation from our healing and accessing that. So my goal is really to, how can we bring it back to. Our ourselves and remove all the bullshit and the, the sparkly things, and really talk about the nitty gritty balance between what it means to be a soul and what it means to be a messy human.

And how do we intertwine that conversation? 

Jillian: I can't wait to listen to some of those episodes and I love how you just changed as you evolved and realized what's more aligned with you, cuz nothing's permanent in our business. You can change the name. You can change. Colors or branding or yep. Anything you can change, even what you do, as long as it's aligned with you.

Leena: And actually at the end of season three, I had decided I don't wanna do this anymore. And so I recorded an episode that was like, goodbye forever. and then four months later at the universe gave me that nudge. You're not done. We still need to have these conversations. So then I was like, I'm back. Just kidding.

Jillian: See, and it works. Yes, you can. You can do it's your business. Do what feels good to you. Yep. yes. So with your podcast and the house of enlightened hood, how has using the power of your voice helped you with your journey with helping other women and now men.

Leena: Oh my gosh. It has, I. Have reflected so much on this in the past few months, but my podcast has given me everything that I have in my life right now in being the one to speak up and say the things that maybe no one.

Wants to say, or has too much shame to say or thinks that they're the only one experiencing in doing that. I have not only found that I am definitely not the only one and have been able to validate so many other people's experiences, but also just find the people that I just resonate with on such a soul level.

And I think that's just so important because the more that. We can use our voice and share our truth. The more the world gets to see who we truly are. And the more we get to find the people that align with who we truly are. And so it has helped me just be vulnerable too, in every single aspect of my life.

I feel like I'm more willing now in my day to day relationships to say those things, you know, this really. Me or this is what I want, or this is what I need, or this is what I think and how I feel and feeling more confident in having those conversations. And I think it's just a really beautiful ripple effect when we can use our voice and feel confident in that because.

I definitely didn't in the first in the first, maybe I don't, maybe even two, three years. It took a really long time for me to just feel comfortable in just speaking. I think at the beginning of my podcast, I was really hyper critical about what I would say with the ums and the ands and you know, a few misspoken words.

And I think that's part of the journey too, is realizing that no one is paying attention to those things except for you and that's okay. And it's part of the learning to feel enough as you are, and not feel like you have to be anything more than that. And I, so I think using your voice and speaking is just, it's just the path that you go on and it's, it's really beautiful to have watched.

My words, help someone else and resonate with someone else and give someone else that, that spark that they need to say, oh, I can do it too. And that just that, that at the end of the day, that's the most meaningful part of, of any of it. 

Yes, cause they're gonna connect with you and your story and the way that you say things.

Cause we all have our own unique perspective. So even if somebody else is say a hundred, other people could be saying the same thing, but that one person is gonna connect with the way that you're. Yep. Talking about it, your story with it. And I also love what you said about worrying your first few podcast episodes about the ums and the S cuz if your first podcast episode is as good as your hundredth, then you're not growing.

Jillian: You're not learning. You're not evolving. yep. Your first one is supposed to suck. 

Leena: Yes, that is very true. Your first anything that's how you learn though, is you keep doing 

yes, exactly. But we're sold such, you know, everything has to be perfect. Is not worth putting out there, which is 

Jillian: I dunno about you, but I don't want that perfectly CR cultivated thing anymore.

I want a real person. That's who I connect with. 

Leena: Like, we're all craving authenticity and a world was filters and just seeing everyone's highlight reels. And I think too, For anyone listening who may be questions that it has to be perfect, or you have to say all the right things, the best feedback that I have gotten on my podcast, in the episodes that resonate the most with people are me just talking about my story or things that are happening in my life.

And I think we, we need that human connection. And so I think being able to find that balance between sharing who you really are as a human and that authenticity mixed in with your wisdom is just the way to go. And I think we're just, we've almost with Instagram have so much like people just yelling at us and telling us what to do all the time when we're like, no, we just wanna connect on a human level and know that our stories and our experiences are.

Are worthy and to see that in someone who we admire and who's doing the things that we wanna do, I think is really, really important. Yes. To see 

that they're human too. They're not perfect. Exactly. Making mistakes, you know? And it just, it makes you feel better when you can connect with other people who yes.

Jillian: Have the same experience. Yes. Yes. So when you do feel that little, I call it your inner critic. I know there's a million different names for it. creeping in. How do you handle that? 

That's 

Leena: a great question. I like to just sit and almost unpack it as an onion. So if I think of it and I feel these thoughts coming in first, I ask myself, okay, why is this coming up?

Why is this triggering me? What bruise is this poking within me? And I think over time, I've been able to develop the, the self-awareness to kind of detect, oh, is this because I have this wound of feeling judged? Or is it because I'm scared that people are going to, because you. When, when we step out and we say the things that no one is saying, there is gonna come criticism with that and judgment.

And I think anytime we put ourselves out there in a new way, it's just, it's going to trigger people in our lives. So doing this work is going to be triggering. And so also understanding not to take it personally. And asking myself, am I taking this personally? Is this a reflection on this person's wounds or it did I do something you know, wrong or that wasn't in the highest intentions?

And if I can know that I have been kind, always, you know, with the best intentions that also helps me know that, okay, this has nothing to do with me. So I always first ask, where is this coming from? Second. Did I do something, you know, looking at my own actions and then really just allowing it to move through and not judging it and say, that's really great that that came up because this is a lesson for me.

And I can take this and learn to love myself more and cultivate more of that self awareness. And. Next time, maybe it will be different. And I think that's how we see too. We'll begin to notice the things, the bruises within us that are being poked and how we're reacting and responding to those. And over time, I think it, then it allows us to say, wow, we are healing.

And we are growing because what used to bother me doesn't bother me anymore. I remember I was really bullied in high school, so that mixed with not really feeling like I've always fit in with people. Judgment and fear of judgment has always been a huge thing for me to overcome. And I remember in the beginning of my podcast, again, with the editing of the ums and the ands, I was super sensitive to that.

And I know that I had grown when someone gave my podcast a one star rating and it had zero emotional effect on me. I'm like, that must be I I'm sending them so much love if they felt the need to go. right by podcast with one star without any good, critical feedback or name . Yes. And I think the more that we can just know that if at the end of the day, we are taking things as a learning lesson, giving ourselves more love and not taking things personally, cuz people are only acting out of their own wounds and self-awareness that can help us.

Not bear so much weight with the inner critic. Yeah. 

Jillian: When people write nasty things, it's usually more about them than . Yes. 

Leena: It's like, but it's so hard not to internalize it. Mm-hmm because especially so many of us who are doing this work are very sensitive people.

Jillian: Yes. A thing that gets me through is whenever I'm. Doing live or podcast interview. I always think, you know, even if this is horrible and people hate it, I still get to walk out of this office. And I have a husband and kids who love me and they're not gonna care how horrible it 

Leena: was. Yeah. And it's something that you love and that lights you up.

And at the end of the day, that's all that should matter is that you're being true to you and what you're feeling called to do. And, and that's enough. And I think we're, we forget that if it doesn't. You know, 10,000 views or all these things that is not good enough when really the fact that we stood up for what we love.

And that's in alignment with our. Always gonna be enough. Yes, 

Jillian: exactly. that is a perfect place to end. I love that last quote. so how can people connect with you? Cause I know they're gonna want to 

Leena: so you can find me on Instagram at Lena of light or on Instagram at house of enlightened hood. Although I've been spending most of our time, my time, our time I'm.

I guess I'm a lot of people today, spending most of my time in the house bin lightened platform, which is hosted on mighty networks. So it's a free community. I don't know if you're familiar with mighty networks, but it's very much one part social media has all the features. And then we also have a lot of resources for spiritual journeys and paths in there.

So I've really been working on connecting with all of our community members as we go through this huge transition to. Become a community owned organization. And so I've been really trying to divest my time from the platforms that , that don't feel an alignment anymore. Yes. And spend time with the people and you know, that the platforms that do so, but I, I always check Instagram and stuff, so you can connect with me there.

I'm still on it just. Yeah, just 

Jillian: don't spend that much time. Mm-hmm well, I will make sure all of that is in the show notes. Thank you so much for being on today. This was of course a great conversation. 

Leena: Thank you so much for having me.